Issue: The Brave And The Bold #44
Title: "Earth's Impossible Day!"
Published Date: Oct/Nov 1962
Generation: Silver Age Katar
Retcon Status: Out Of Continuity (This is a guess, from all of the Thanagarian culture on display.)
Summary: On Earth, Katar and Shayera discover that the United States' Independence Day falls on the exact same day as their Thanagarian holiday of Impossible Day. The gist of the holiday is that all Thanagarians must perform three "impossible" tasks to honor an ancient Thanagarian by the name of Rhon Dhu. Deciding to go on a picnic for the holiday, the Hawks discover a forest fire, and use their wings to make a giant water column to extinguish the flame; by making it "rain" upwards, they have done an "impossible" task. Later, the duo comes across a pair of bak robbers fleeing in their getaway car which they have protected with an electric forcefield. The Hawks shut them down, however, by throwing bolts of lightning at the crooks -- which seems impossible, but in actuality, by using rocks made of fulgarite to generate electrical current! Finally, after the Midway City Museum is robbed by a crook who seems to make his loot disappear, the Hawks give chase. Hawkman is able to see the crook's "invisible" bullets thanks to having studied the scene of the crime and determining that the items disappeared thanks to a chemical spray, which he created a counter-compound for. Thus, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are able to honor their Thanagarian holiday by performing three seemingly "impossible" tasks.
Review: A fun 12-pager, a typical sort of Silver Age story where the heroes are not really menaced all that much but still provide us readers with entertainment. The goofy way which Fox establishes Thanagarian "culture" is so pitch-perfect for the time period that you can't help but smile at it's quaint nature. And I am still a little shaky on how the fulgarite bit worked, but that's okay. One does wonder, though, how you manage to perform these "impossible" feats without having the Hawks' Nth metal wing harnesses and full access to the Absorbascon!
For those interested, you can get a more in-depth breakdown of this story over at Dial B For Blog.
Image: The Brave And The Bold #44, 1962, Joe Kubert.
1 comment:
This is not one of my favorite stories, but there is nothing particularly wrong with it. There's just a bit too much Silver Age in the tale, I suppose. The next one is a lot more exciting!
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